Adi Jaffe, Ph.D., a LifeBac partner who offers access to an exclusive behavior-change program through our platform, writes in The Abstinence Myth that problem-drinking is a symptom of a larger issue. Drinking helps take the edge off, but leaves unresolved issues behind. As life’s unresolved problems stack up, the drinking keeps up too.

“SAMHSA’s definition of recovery doesn’t include abstinence anywhere within it. In fact, I tell those I work with that if all they achieved by working with me is abstinence, then I have failed them. True recovery is not about abstaining, but about flourishing.”

Dr. Jaffe's revolutionary course gets to the core of the problem in a nonjudgemental, convenient way, allowing anyone who struggles with over-drinking to find real change from the comfort of their own home. Take the course at your own pace and control your own progress.

"Most of it (treatment) can be done in primary care...  I mean, a counselor with a GED preaching AA for four weeks is no backup for a physician... Medications are going to become increasingly important, that’s why the neuroscience research is so important... Most therapy - psychotherapy - will be provided on the web. So those are the future directions, and there is a lot to say about the use of technology as well. The future is bright, but we have to make treatment available, accessible, affordable, and attractive." Mark Willenbring, MD
Former Director of the NIAAA Division of Treatment and Recovery Research

This is LifeBacs's philosophy: the future has arrived. Pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy can be delivered online anywhere with technology to support.

Baclofen removes or strongly suppresses cravings for alcohol in 92% of people. These strong cravings are the #1 reason people have difficulty cutting back or quitting drinking. Clinical trials give Baclofen a 65% success rate returning treatment-resistant alcoholics to low- or medium-risk drinking. 50% of those who succeed using Baclofen go further and quit drinking entirely by choice. The less the person previously drank and the shorter the time, the less medication required.

LifeBac gives you the choice of whether you want to drink or not. When you do choose to drink, you’ll feel more satisfied much sooner. The result is significantly fewer drinking days and significantly fewer drinks on those days. Baclofen doesn’t, however, affect the taste of alcohol or the pleasure of drinking — it simply removes the addictive components that lead to overindulgence and allows you to drink in moderation.

Alcohol Cravings Completely Removed

In 2008, Dr. Olivier Ameisen, Weill Cornell Hospital cardiologist and the former first physician to the Prime Minister of France, discovered a solution to his chronic over-drinking after 8 rehab stints and 5000 AA meetings. He experimented on himself using baclofen to markedly decrease the release of dopamine in the reward pathway of the brain, diminishing or suppressing the conditioned response to alcohol. He reported

“complete suppression, not just a reduction in cravings; I am indifferent to it.”

Studies From the University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Anna Rose Childress from the University of Pennsylvania performed experiments on cocaine users to assess the efficacy of baclofen (baclofen has been proven in humans to be effective for both alcohol and cocaine cravings). Her experiments have shown that cravings result from the cue-triggered activation of the mesolimbic dopamine system, these cues can be so brief that they are outside of conscious awareness, yet produce robust activation within this circuitry. Baclofen is a GABA_B receptor agonist that reduces the release of dopamine into this system elicited by alcohol cues and seems to do so at the very earliest onset of the dopamine rush so as to stop the craving from happening.

The cure for Over Drinking?

Doctors in Europe prescribe baclofen as the primary treatment for alcohol misuse. In France alone there are over 10,000 prescribing physicians and more than 300,000 people taking baclofen (from a population ⅙ of the U.S.) for help with alcohol cravings. It is in the process of being approved as the first-line alcohol treatment in Australia after a petition by the Royal Perth Hospital. In the U.S., the FDA has already approved the medication as safe (although originally as a muscle relaxant), it can be prescribed by U.S. physicians (but rarely is) for alcohol cravings. Baclofen has 65% success rates compared with 7% for Alcoholics Anonymous and rehab yet most physicians will still recommend AA and rehab over medications, only 1% of people seeking help with over-drinking in the U.S. receive medication.

Results From Clinical Trials

Clinical trials in Europe have shown 65% success allowing treatment-resistant alcoholics to return to low-risk drinking levels or abstinence when using the Ameisen method of titrated (not fixed) dose. These studies also showed that 92% of patients had a noticeable reduction in cravings. Approximately 50% of those who were successful on baclofen decided themselves to quit entirely.

Several studies have not been as conclusive with many using flawed assumptions or goals, mostly too low a dose, too short a study, using fixed-dose instead of titration, or measuring only abstinence not achieving low-risk drinking. One study concluded that baclofen was no more effective than placebo, but its results showed both the placebo and Baclofen with a 65% success rate. Studies using the Ameisen method with titration have proven 65% successful on average or two out of three people

Baclofen treatment requires titration (slow dose increase) until cravings are completely removed or controlled (the effective dose) which varies widely between patients dependent on previous drinking habits. There is no necessity to detox or abstain just continue to drink normally. For most people the number of drinks per day will reduce naturally, others describe it as “flicking a switch”.

There can be minor side effects including tiredness, nausea, headaches or dizziness, they are usually easily manageable and go away within a few days. This happens mostly at the start. The vast majority of people persist as they pass in a couple of days when they occur, and the benefits of control over drinking far outweigh the temporary unpleasant side effects.

The LifeBac app and team manage each individual’s titration process minimizing side effects to deliver a life free of cravings and all the benefits of drinking at low-risk levels.

Other Benefits

Baclofen is processed by the kidneys, not the liver, so it is well-suited for alcohol treatment

Clinical trials show that baclofen significantly reduces or removes the effects of alcohol withdrawal.

We built LifeBac to show people with a drinking problem that there is a way out, a way to beat this problem and return to a normal life without the requirement of abstinence or “recovery”. The modern methods of combining medication to remove cravings, with behavior change to rewire habits can help people rebuild their lives, their careers, their health.

But our aim is to go further than that, by helping these people return to normal drinking habits and building their lives into something much better than their old view of “normal” we hope to also save many marriages and families. We feel that abundantly more healthy, happy people and better family lives is a worthy goal!

LifeBac is designed to turn the alcohol treatment upside down putting the person with the problem at the top, not at the bottom. Give that person all the tools to succeed, the power to choose their own path, their own goals, and how fast or slow they would like to get there. Give them medication so they control their drinking, not the other way around, a coach to motivate for habit change and access to powerful behavior change programs.

This is very different from being at the bottom. Being told they have a disease and they need to succumb and do as they are told is their only hope.

For too long people with a drinking problem have been forced to keep their drinking problem secret lest they end up labeled an “alcoholic” and spend the rest of their days abstinent, fighting cravings, and in rehab or AA meetings.

Why are problem-drinkers still being treated with 1930’s treatments? Who would still go to the dentist if this was the treatment? It’s little wonder only 10% of problem-drinkers seek treatment at all when this is what they expect.

Our mission is to bring the very best modern treatments from around the globe and offer them in the privacy of the home or office. A combination of modern effective treatments using the best technology for the best results. No shame, no stigma, no judgment.

And let’s remove the shame about talking about alcohol problems now that there are effective treatments. 33% of people confess lying to their doctor about how much they drink for fear of the consequences. Let’s talk about our successes and help more people!